Irritable Bowel Syndrome

With the high-stress lifestyle being the norm in our culture, a lot of people experience chronic digestive symptoms, such as gas, bloating, constipation or diarrhea, along with other non-gastrointestinal symptoms such as fatigue, migraine, and insomnia. If work up with a gastroenterologist is negative for Celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease, the patient will most likely receive a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS. Conventional treatment for IBS is usually for symptomatic relief only, and leaves the underlying cause untouched.

Two types of laboratory testing will help pinpoint the underlying cause of IBS. One is Comprehensive Stool Analysis with Parasitology test, available from Doctor’s Data. The other is food allergy test from US BioTek. The stool test will identify microbes (bacteria, yeast and parasites), inflammation in the GI tract, indigestion and malabsorption. It also assists in differentiating between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The food allergy test identifies food allergens that trigger abnormal immune responses and cause inflammation of the GI tract. The stool test is focused on lower GI symptoms, while food allergy test is implicated for both upper and lower GI symptoms. As always, we have a suite of natural treatments prepared to deal with these issues.